Hindsight Shepherd Book and Inara
POSTED BY: Ty
UPDATED: Thursday, January 22, 2004 22:17
VIEWED: 11704
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I just watched Objects in Space for the first time. When Simon criticized the Bounty Hunter for knocking out Book the Bounty Hunter looked at Book and Said "He's no Shepherd", what did he mean by that? Ok, before you answer, I have not seen the rest of the EPs so Book could be exactly who he is. Did anynone else pick up on that?
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I just watched Objects in Space for the first time. When Simon criticized the Bounty Hunter for knocking out Book the Bounty Hunter looked at Book and Said "He's no Shepherd", what did he mean by that? Ok, before you answer, I have not seen the rest of the EPs so Book could be exactly who he is. Did anynone else pick up on that?
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I just watched Objects in Space for the first time. When Simon criticized the Bounty Hunter for knocking out Book the Bounty Hunter looked at Book and Said "He's no Shepherd", what did he mean by that? Ok, before you answer, I have not seen the rest of the EPs so Book could be exactly who he is. Did anynone else pick up on that?
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I think the bounty hunter Early either worked for the Alliance at one point, or he has done jobs for them, and hence knows some big wigs in the Alliance. I'm totally speculating. I think Book did indeed work for them, do some pretty nasty things, couldnt live with his conscience and went to the monastary to cleanse his soul. He regained or gained his faith, went back out into the world and fell in with some thieves, not what he had expecting. But he also seems to think that by being with some of the worst, he can do some good, because he knows there is some good in everyone onboard Serenity, even someone who doesnt approve his faith like Mal. I also dont think Book was pretending, I think he thought he had come out of the monastary too soon and was not ready for the big bad world, and Inara helped soothe his worries, an interesting turnaround for a preacher and a Companion.
Quote:
Originally posted by paustark:
I just watched Objects in Space for the first time. When Simon criticized the Bounty Hunter for knocking out Book the Bounty Hunter looked at Book and Said "He's no Shepherd", what did he mean by that? Ok, before you answer, I have not seen the rest of the EPs so Book could be exactly who he is. Did anynone else pick up on that?
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Even though Joss W states in the commentary that Early is very intuitive and only _observes_ that Book is not just a Shepherd, I can't shake the feeling that he really knows something.
Mal - "Now you're only gonna scare him."
Jayne - "Pain is scary."
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Yep, the problem is that we just don't know. They cancelled the show before Joss could let us in on the secret. Possibilities include;
1) Former Alliance secret police officer of high rank (note Book's treatment in "Safe")
2) Former high ranking Alliance military offical.
3) Present member of one of the two branches above, working undercover.
4) He might really be a preacher now, now dealing with the sins of his past out in the real world.
Sorry this is not more helpful. Blame Faux
"Wash, where is my damn spaceship?"
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After watching all the episodes of Firefly a couple times on DVD, I've come to the ..belief, for lack of a better word, that Shepherd Book is actually an ex-Alliance officer who was prominent in the battle for Serenity that ended the war. He may have been the reason inadvertently why all the remaining soldiers were left for dead on both sides during the negotiation. Perhaps Book was the negotiator who demanded none of the soldiers be rescued until a settlement between the two sides could be found. After discovering the folly of his rash actions, even though his diplomacy led to a settlement and saved the Alliance and countless lives, he also inadvertently left countless soldiers die of starvation and treatable wounds on the battlefield. So this guilt led him to find solace in theology. He wanted to leave the Alliance, but was so high up an officer that he couldn't just disappear. So he put in for retirement and was going to live out the rest of his days in the Abbey.
Why he actually left the Abbey could have been an episode by itself, and woulda started a chain reaction that tells us his story. I think what Early meant when he said Book wasn't a shepherd was that his intuitive mind picked up on Shepherd's more military background. That he hasn't always been a man of the cloth, and has been a preacher man for so short a time as to not intuitively seem like it.
"You don't fix faith, River. It fixes you."
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I think that at that point in Inara's chamber, he could have been testing. Testing Mal through the perceptions of other people, finding out if Inara, being a non-crewmember, would be a possible recruit to spy on them for him, or many other things.. Or, maybe he wanted to get some, but it would blow his cover, so he came up with that idea to at least spend some time with a companion. I got the impression that a companion's services are not _only_ sex, but could include companionship and comfort as well, or instead of....
I knew you let her kiss you!
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Hello, all. I'm new to this list and new to Firefly having just discovered it.
I've been limiting myself to one episode a night to make my enjoyment stretch a little further. I'm not quite through watching all the episodes yet, but I came to the same conclusion as Zachsmind. In fact, I think Shepherd Book's real name is General Richard Wilkins. He's the alliance general who won the battle of Serenity Valley. He's mentioned in deleted scene 75 of "Serenity".
Best Regards,
Ah Clem
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*INTENSE HIGH SPECULATION ALERT - YELLOW*
Actually I'd have to say Book was in that room when General Richard Wilkins sold the independent resistance up the proverbial river to the Alliance. Book was among a group of men who cut a deal with the Alliance for amnesty and other perks in return for ending the war in the Alliance's favor. This is why all the Alliance needed was his Ident Card and then they took him to their infirmary, no further questions asked.
However, Book couldn't be Wilkins cuz Mal and other people probably know what Wilkins looks like. Wilkins is for the Firefly universe what General Robert E Lee was for the Civil War. He was the most prominent and remembered general of the losing side of the war. Kinda hard to believe Wilkins/Book could just change his name, grow his hair and hide as a priest.
Book was a silent partner who avoided the spotlight and supported Wilkins during the war, but didn't much like selling out. I doubt he had much choice. To appease his guilt, Book went into the clergy. He spent the years after the war in the equivalent of a monastery, and just before the episode Serenity he mustered up the courage to face society again.
Book may even be in contact with an underground unit of Independent loyalists struggling to find a foothold that'd enable them to reprise the war. His placement on Serenity may not be accidental. We know he spurned another flyer before he approached Kaylee, and though he acted coy and noncommittal, Kaylee noticed Book was not looking for destinations but ships. He wanted to fly on Serenity before Kaylee 'sold' him on the idea. He also knew his way around Kaylee's engine room to "go to the head of the class" so to speak by the episode's end.
If you watch the shows again, assuming as a given that Book is perpetually 'playing' dumb and pretending the role of Shepherd, Ron Glass' performance suddenly takes on a whole new radiance. Brilliant actually, provided it was intentional. Glass' performance it multifaceted and purposefully vague in order to leave it open to the viewer's interpretation, but not in a way that feels trite or indecisive on the part of the actor. Book is revealed to us like that picture of a vase that upon closer inspection can also be the profile of two people kissing. Ron Glass plays with what his character says AND what he doesn't say, and we learn as much from the negative spaces as from the metaphorical objects in Shepherd Book's space.
Ron Glass once again demonstrates his versatility and remarkable stage presence as a veteran actor. Glass could sell you the brooklyn bridge if ya let'm. Great talent. Perfect casting.
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"Hang on, travelers..."
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